1. Why did the Government withhold the fact stabilised Methane does not contribute to further warming from the entire submission process? Did you not consider this relevant to the discussion given the Paris Agreement goal is specifically to limit further warming?
2. Why is zero warming in 2018 not 'ambitious' enough for farmers when CO2 emitters only plan to get to zero warming by 2050?
3. Why are farmers targeted under the Government ETS proposal? If a CO2 emitter offsets 100% of th...

There has been major progress in the discussion on agricultural emissions in recent weeks. NZ agriculture will soon be recognized as 'zero warming'. If you would like to know how that is possible, please read the following PDF attachment. The equation is actually surprisingly simple, the more farmers understand and get behind this concept, the better the final ETS will be....

Climate change organisations like the NZAGRC, politicians and the general public have for years been demonizing the agricultural industry for their contribution to climate change.
This targeting of the industry relies on ignoring two basic climate change facts.
1. Stabilised Methane emissions are warming neutral (give or take 0.3%/yr)
2. Pre-1990 forests also sequester Carbon
(Pre-1990 forests can and should be included under the Paris Agreement, the Government has done well to avoid...

Those with time to follow the news will have heard Simon Upton's most recent report has suggested Methane needs to drop by 10 to 22% by 2050. This is actually a good result for farmers as now we have agreed numbers to work with. The media has tried to spin how significant the warming affect from stabilised Methane is, but the reality is we only require a 0.3% annual reduction to avoid any warming! I expect the first 10 years or so will be offset by trees, after that there are plenty of mitigatio...

The Zero Carbon Bill is an opportunity for New Zealand to lead the world on smart agricultural emissions policy. James Shaw has regularly touted his wish to see our country as international leaders on climate change and is trying to break new ground by bringing biological emissions into the ETS. To be leaders however, we must look forward and not backwards.
The issues with the current Global Warming Potential (GWP) accounting system for methane are now widely publicised and understood. Anyone wh...

1. Are pre-1990 forests going to be included in the GHG budget? The Paris Agreement has no requirement to exclude pre-1990 forests (unlike the Kyoyo Protocol) so is it not in farmers interests to at least try and include them?
Trying to make any further goal announcements without clarifying this is pointless. If the answer is 'we have not decided yet' then ask why the government is already anticipating agriculture must make a 30 year transition to lower emissions when this is not required ...

Its taken a while but James Shaw did conceed at the recent Hamilton Zero Carbon meeting that NZ agriculture is probably warming neutral as of 2018, even if he is reluctant to make a public statement to that effect. The key information is actually buried way down on page 22 of the Submission Discussion Document."Reducing long-lived greenhouse gas emissions to zero and stabilising our short-lived gases,which would mean our domestic emissions would not contribute to any further increase inglobal te...

There are two ways to look at 'net' Methane emissions.1. The government approach is to use the GWP100 accounting method. This option is widely accepted as having no correlation to warming, however it is the common way to compare CH4 with other GHGs. The Government would consider net zero emissions to be when all GWP100 emissions are offset by CO2 sequestration by trees etc. 2. The other option is actually how CO2 is currently being accounting for. This is the inflow of emissions minus the o...

With the Government seemingly intent on including agriculture in the ETS I felt it was appropriate to take a look at the justification behind the decision. As it turns out the case is very weak, to the point that (if/when) the NZ agricultural industry eventually gets their head around the science, climate change and emissions could be a significant strategic advantage for our industry.
It comes back to a simple question, what is climate change? The UN says its caused by a change in the atm...

No point highlighting the flaws in the current ETS policy without offering a better solution....1. NZ agriculture should aim to cap the atmospheric methane volume at the same level it was in 1990. As of 2015 there has been just a 5.6% increase. This will allow agriculture to state their methane emissions have not contributed to climate change since the IPCC was established.2. Agriculture should ensure trees on agricultural land offset any N2O emissions and/or net increase in methane. This w...

Cranston Consulting is happy to pay any individual or organisation $1,000 to provide us with evidence NZ agriculture in currently warming the planet. I have spoken to government organisations, MFE and many climate scientists with no success to date. Interestingly even individuals who specialize in agricultural GHG modelling claim 'this is not my area'. Some however will agree there is no evidence but will not comment publicly.
This is significant as if there in no evidence agriculture is c...

Firstly feel I should write a bit of a disclaimer to clarify my position. Environmental regulations are required to improve water quality in our Region, the majority of what is being proposed by the Waikato Regional Council and especially that relating to the Farm Environment Plans is good policy, is practical and will help achieve real water quality gains. There is still much to clarify but the concept is good and to be fair to WRC, it is extremely difficult to create environmental&nb...

I am very excited to say Cranston Consulting is now officially up and running. I look forward to being a voice for Waikato farmers and effective environmental policy.
I hope my Facebook page will serve as a forum to discuss the implications of the Healthy Rivers Plan Change 1 with farmers, and I plan to share important information, updates and opinions here on my blog.
I hope to see you get involved with the discussion and would be more than happy for you to contact me directly....